Chinese banks accounted for almost a third of global bank profit last year, up from just 4% in...

Chinese banks accounted for almost a third of global bank profit last year, up from just 4% in 2007. Much of the gains came at the expense of European peers who bled marketshare. Leading the profit tables: ICBC with pretax earnings of $43.2B, China Construction Bank with $34.8B, and Bank of China with $26.8B. JPMorgan (JPM) and HSBC (HBC) took fourth and fifth place.

This is a comment on last year's bank profits. All of us are more interested in this year's bank profits. It seems obvious JP Morgan would lost its fourth position.

As for the Chinese Banks, most of us are unsure about the valuation of the bonds they hold on Special Vehicles that host the poor quality loans. These bonds have been rolled over without the full provision of bad debts. In the past China has a hyper growth rate of 9% or more so the Chinese Government has assumed the banks can grow themselves out of the debt crisis. With China's economy slowing down, the debt crisis is becoming more visable.